The present invention relates to a system and method for sorting mass recyclables and more particularly to a system for sensing and sorting white paper from other objects.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that society desires to recycle as much of its waste materials as possible. For example, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and other items have been the source of mixed recyclable efforts in the past. The assignee of the present application, Magnetic Separation Systems, Inc. (MSS) is a world leader in mixed recyclables. MSS is also the owner of many patents disclosing technologies for sorting and concentrating aluminum and sorting plastics.
One other type of mixed recyclable is paper. In the past, recyclable efforts have been dominated by hand sorting of paper by type. One common effort is curbside recycling. Other efforts have been to sort paper from other types of materials. Unfortunately, as with any other procedure, any type of hand sorting requires an intensive use of labor that is not always efficient.
What is needed, then, is a method and system that can sort white paper from a stream of other paper. This needed system must also be capable of sorting a stream of material from white paper in case the stream is dominated by materials other than white paper. The system must decrease the amount of labor presently being used. The system must be economical. The system must be effective. The system is presently lacking in prior art.